12-DAYS SAFARI FOR THE BEST OF WESTERN UGANDA

You will arrive at Entebbe International Airport, located on a peninsula that juts out into the largest freshwater lake in Africa (Lake Victoria), where our driver-guide will welcome you and transfer you to the hotel for an overnight stay. 

Mid-range Accommodation: The Boma Entebbe (En-suite Rooms) 

Luxury Accommodation: Protea Hotel Entebbe (En-suite Deluxe Rooms) 

No meals today!

You will enjoy your breakfast very early in the morning and commence your journey to Murchison Falls National Park. You will make a stopover at Migyera along the Kampala-Gulu Road for a chance to stretch your legs. After the break, you will proceed to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, where rhinos that got wiped out in the Ugandan wild are being kept before they are reintroduced in Ugandan national parks. When you arrive at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, a guide, and armed rangers will take you on a walking safari in search of the rhinos. Once you have spotted them, you will stay in their presence for a while (for about ± 2 hours). You will enjoy lunch at Ziwa and thereafter return to your waiting vehicle and proceed with your journey to Murchison Falls National Park. On arrival, you will check in at your lodge and have the rest of the day to yourselves, dinner, and an overnight stay.

Travel time: ± 7,5 hours

Mid-range accommodation: - Pakuba Safari Lodge (En-suite Cottages)Luxury accommodation: - Paraa Safari Lodge (En-suite Deluxe Rooms) or stay at Nile Safari Lodge (High-end Accommodation) at an extra cost.

You will wake up at 6.00 am and enjoy your breakfast. At 6:30 am, you’ll drive out for a game drive for a chance to view the glorious day-break from across the open savannah. Wildlife on the northern bank includes Rothschild Giraffes, Elephants, Lions, Oribis, Waterbucks, etc, and a variety of savannah woodland birds. Between 10-11 am, you will return to the lodge for relaxation and lunch. After lunch, at 2:00 pm, you’ll head out for the boat cruise to the bottom of the powerful Murchison Falls. This three-hour boat cruise climaxes at the edge of the Rift Valley escarpment at which point you will get off the boat and trek to the top of the falls. Having worked up a sweat, once at the top, get bathed in the misty spray that the Nile creates as it forces itself into the 7-meter cleft to create the famous Murchison Falls. You’ll continue on a game drive that gives way to a night game drive with a spotlight. Later, you’ll return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Mid-range accommodation: - Pakuba Safari Lodge (En-suite Cottages)Luxury accommodation: - Paraa Safari Lodge (En-suite Deluxe Rooms) or stay at Nile Safari Lodge (High-end Accommodation) at an extra cost.

This morning, you’ll wake up early and have breakfast at 6:30 am. After breakfast, you’ll check out of the hotel and depart from Murchison Falls NP with a stop in Hoima for a stretch, and then proceed with the journey via Kyenjojo. Along the way, you will traverse traditional homesteads surrounded by crop plantations in a very leafy and green area, arriving in Fort Portal in time for a hot lunch. Thereafter, continue to Kibale Forest National Park, you will check in at your lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.

Travel time: ± 7 hours

Mid-range Accommodation: - Turaco Treetops (En-suite Luxury Cottages)Luxury Accommodation: - Primate Lodge (En-suite Luxury Cottages)

After your breakfast, your driver-guide will drive you to Kibale Forest National Park headquarters at Kanyanchu for a briefing before you commence your chimpanzee trekking. This park is reputed for having the greatest variety and highest concentration of primates in East Africa. On the guided nature walk, you are in search of chimpanzees, Red-tailed monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, and many others. Once you locate the chimpanzees, you will spend a full hour with them at close quarters. After the mandatory 1 hour is finished, your guides/rangers will lead you back to the park headquarters. Once back at the lodge, you will have the rest of the day to yourselves to relax and look back on your exhilarating experience encountering the chimpanzees through the lens of your camera. Later in the afternoon, you can visit the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary—an exciting experience and overnight stay at your Lodge. 

Mid-range Accommodation: - Turaco Treetops (En-suite Luxury Cottages)Luxury Accommodation: - Primate Lodge (En-suite Luxury Cottages)

You will wake up at leisure and enjoy your breakfast. You will not be in a hurry, so you will depart Kibale Forest National Park for Queen Elizabeth National Park at leisure. Drive through the beautiful crater region, where the views and scenery are to die for! After seeing some of the many craters in the region, back you will continue to Queen Elizabeth National Park with the Rwenzori Mountains in the backdrop as you lose altitude to arrive in or around the park. On arrival and after check-in at the beautiful lodge, you can relax and have the rest of the day to yourself or choose to go for a game drive. Your dinner and overnight stay will be at the lodge, where nature’s night sounds invade your cottage/room.

Travel time: ± 3.5 hours

Mid-range Accommodation: Elephant Hab Lodge (En-suite Standard Cottages)Luxury Accommodation: Mweya Safari Lodge (En-suite Deluxe Rooms)

You will wake up at 6.00 am, enjoy your breakfast, and set off for a day-break game drive on the park’s plains. You will head straight for the mating grounds of the Uganda Kobs and also search for lions in their natural habitat, elephants, and buffalos, and then you’ll return to the lodge. You will change gears and head for the Kasenyi plains, which are prolific, and hence lions and other predators hunt here. You will return to the lodge and then have lunch. At either 2:00 pm or 4:00 pm, you will head out for the boat cruise along the Kazinga Channel, a natural channel that connects lakes Edward and George—one of the major highlights of your safari. On the cruise, abundant bird life is sighted, and perhaps the highest concentration of hippopotamus in Africa lives on this stretch. The boat cruise, lasting 3 hours, climaxes with you looking at stunning scenery in the distance. You’ll return to the lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.

Mid-range Accommodation: Elephant Hab Lodge (En-suite Standard Cottages)Luxury Accommodation: Mweya Safari Lodge (En-suite Deluxe Rooms)

After breakfast, you will commence your transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, the home of mountain gorillas, passing through the lush Ishasha Sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park and its fig trees, where you stand a chance of running into the famous and unique tree-climbing lions. There are about quite a number of lions in this part of the park, elephant herds are numerous, and cheeky baboons are ever-present. After exploring this sector of the park, where game density rises, you’ll exit the park and drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, considered the number one beautiful place in the world, where you’ll marvel at the landscape, the lush rainforest, etc. You’ll be arriving late at your destination. You will check into the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Travel time: ± 7 hoursMid-range/Luxury Accommodation: Gorilla Leisure Lodge (En-suite Cottages)

Very early in the morning, after breakfast, you will carry your packed lunch and be at the park ranger station by 7.30 am for registration and briefing and start the gorilla trekking experience at around 8:00 am. This remarkable experience of searching for the famous Mountain Gorillas is strenuous and thus requires one to be physically fit; however, the thrill of encountering these humble and gentle giants erases the poor memories you went through while finding them. The trekking takes 2–9 hours, depending on the movement of the gorillas in the jungle, and you will spend one hour with them as you take photos and learn about their behaviors. After the trekking, we will return to the lodge, where we will spend the rest of the day relaxing or going for an optional activity that is;

• Batwa Trail Experience at USD $80 per person
• Hike to the waterfall inside the park at USD $75 per person
• Nature walk inside the park at USD $75 per person
• Hike to the waterfall outside the park at USD $35 per person
• Nature walk outside the park at USD $35 per person

Dinner and overnight at our lodge.Mid-range/Luxury Accommodation: Gorilla Leisure Lodge (En-suite Cottages)

You will wake up at leisure and enjoy your breakfast. After breakfast, you’ll say goodbye to the beautiful Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and head to the beautiful and picturesque Lake Bunyonyi. The area you drive through is scenic, so you can ask your driver-guide to stop from time to time as you take more pictures. When you arrive in Lake Bunyonyi, you’ll check in at your lodge/resort and have the rest of the day to yourself. You’ll marvel at the changing view in front of you as the scene is known to change as the day progresses! Lake Bunyonyi is a good place to chill out, relax, and read a book or simply go out on a tour with a canoe or motorized boat to some of the 29 islands that create the scenic appeal of the lake. Options of things to do include canoeing/boating, swimming (this is recommended for strong swimmers), birding, nature walks, hikes, and cultural visits. Your overnight.

Travel time: ± 3 hoursMid-range Accommodation: Birdnest @ Bunyonyi Resort (En-suite Rooms or Arcadia Cottages Bunyonyi (En-suite Cottages)

This morning, you’ll wake up at leisure and enjoy your breakfast. At 9.00 am, you will check out and start your drive to Lake Mburo National Park. On arrival, you’ll check in at your lodge and enjoy lunch. Lake Mburo National Park is the only park in Uganda with Eland, Impala Antelopes, and Burchell’s Zebra. The scenery of rolling hills, lakes, and swamps makes Africa real. It is in Lake Mburo where the Tanzanian Savannah meets Uganda in a most scenic fashion. At about 6.30 pm, you will head out for a nocturnal game drive. A night game drive is one of the most memorable activities one can do here. You’ll spot the creatures of the night, such as leopards, bush babies, porcupines, and other mammals that move at night. The drive is normally about two and a half hours, and you can choose to have dinner before or after the night game drive. Spotlights are used to point out various animals. After the drive, you’ll return to the lodge for an overnight stay.

Travel time: ± 5,5 hours

Mid-range Accommodation: Rwakobo Rock (En-suite Cottages)Luxury Accommodation: Mihingo Lodge (En-suite Cottages)

You’ll wake up at 6:00 am and enjoy breakfast. Lake Mburo National Park is one of the game parks in Uganda where visitors are allowed to go into the wild for a nature walk with an experienced game ranger and get as close to the animals as possible safely. On a morning guided walk, you will often encounter hyenas who are returning to their dens after a night of being on the prowl, and at the same time, you can often see hippos returning from grazing during the night and returning to the lake to keep cool during the day and protect their sensitive skin from the sun. On a nature walk, you will also see Zebras, Giraffes, Eland, Topi, Impala and other antelopes, buffaloes, birds, and butterflies at very close range. After your walk, you’ll return to the lodge, take a shower, and check out—ready for the drive to Entebbe. At the Equator crossing, you’ll take some fun pictures and purchase crafts/souvenirs from your Uganda safari. You’ll enjoy lunch at the Equator and continue to Entebbe International Airport for your flight back home. And if departing the next day, you will spend an overnight at the hotel at an extra cost.

Day-use Rooms + Dinner at either The Boma Entebbe (En-suite Rooms) for Mid-range or Protea Hotel Entebbe (En-suite Deluxe Rooms) for Luxury